Gulf Keystone to drill deepest well in Kurdistan

UK-based Gulf Keystone Petroleum has spudded the first deep well in the Shaikan Block in Kurdistan Region of Iraq as the firm looks to drill deeper on its Shaikan discovery than ever before.

Shaikan-7 is the first deep exploration well in the Shaikan Block. It is located 1 km east of the Shaikan-1 discovery well.

Gulf Keystone said in a statement that it was targeting the mid-to-lower Triassic and potentially Permian horizons, making it the deepest well it would have spud on the Shaikan structure.

"We are about to commence implementation of our field development plan for the Shaikan discovery and start Jurassic production from the newly-constructed Shaikan production facility," said John Gerstenlauer, chief operating officer of Gulf Keystone.

The new well is is being drilled with the Weatherford Rig 319. It is set to take nine months to drill and is targeting a total depth of 4,500 metres.

Gerstenlauer added: “With Shaikan-7, we hope to confirm our expectations of major reservoirs beneath the deepest horizon drilled to date and add to what is already recognised as one of the world's largest onshore conventional oil and gas developments.”